Abstract
The achievement behavior of women was examined in relation to their masculinity-femininity of self-concept and the mediating effects of the situation. The masculinity-femininity of self-concept of 58 female subjects was determined through the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (J. Spence, R. Helmreich, and J. Stapp, “The Personal Attributes Questionnaire: A Measure of Sex Role Stereotypes and Masculinity-Femininity,” Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology, 1974, 4, 43–44). These subjects then competed in either a mixed-sex or same-sex group. Each subject was led to believe she was a high-ability performer in relation to the group members she competed against. While feminine women did not display poorer performance when competing against lower ability males than lower ability females, they did feel more ambivalence than the others about performing successfully in a competitive situation.
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The author gratefully acknowledges the contributions and support of Dr. M. L. Dietz, Dr. W. Libby, Dr. L. M. Jackson, and Dr. F. Schneider.
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Coutts, J.S. Masculinity-femininity of self-concept: Its effect on the achievement behavior of women. Sex Roles 16, 9–17 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00302847
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00302847